In the near future, you can truly multitask with just a smartphone application: Brush your teeth, check your calendar and emails, and watch the news in the bathroom via the monitor screen-cum-mirror. Instead of wearing a fitness tracker on your wrist, you can monitor your sleep with a Samsung sleep monitor underneath your mattress that will analyse your heart and respiratory rates to give you a personalised report and sleep score every morning.
Bathrooms as the new alternative workplace?
With a smart home system, you can monitor visitors via CCTV and control access to your home using a digital lock linked to a smartphone app. There will also be motion sensors that will detect movement at the doors and activate the lights. Beyond controlling the lights and access into the unit, the smart home app will also allow homeowners to control appliances, from air-conditioners and water heaters to washing machines and refrigerators. Shopping will be a breeze, as you can use an app to check the contents in your refrigerator while grocery shopping.
These are some of the next-generation home features showcased at the sales gallery of The Visionaire, Qingjian Realty’s latest executive condominium (EC) project in Sembawang. “The Visionaire is the first step we are taking in developing next-generation homes,” says Li Jun, managing director of Qingjian Realty (South Pacific) Group. “The government wants Singapore to be a ‘Smart Nation’, so we thought we should create our vision of a smart home.”
The Visionaire in Sembawang will have smart home features and is poised to be a next-generation EC.
Click here to find out more about The Visionaire
This marks Qingjian’s latest collaboration with Samsung, which is also its partner for the HiLife mobile app rolled out last year. The app allows residents to book condo facilities using their mobile devices, as well as services such as air-conditioning maintenance, plumbing and other home repair and cleaning services. Residents can also check out nearby amenities such as enrichment centres, yoga classes, nail spas or beauty treatment/massage centres, F&B outlets and entertainment facilities.
Qingjian introduced HiLife at its Riversound Residence when it was completed. The 590-unit private condo in Sengkang was completed in 2015 and today, there are more than 790 users of the app, says Li. “That means each unit has more than one user, so family members are using the app to book the facilities. It’s very convenient and user-friendly.”
Following the successful adoption of HiLife at Riversound Residence, the app is also being rolled out at Qingjian’s other completed projects, including RiverParc Residence in Punggol and Nin Residence on Upper Serangoon Road.
Qingjian is open to working with other developers that are interested in using HiLife for their projects. “We feel that a platform such as HiLife, which is beneficial to homeowners, is something that we can share with other developers,” says Li. Subsidiary company HiLife will be working with property management agencies to promote the mobile app to other developments, he adds.
Li: We have at least one project being completed each year and we want to offer new products for
homeowners to differentiate ourselves from other developers
Forty-year-old Li came to Singapore in 2008 to spearhead Qingjian’s property development business. Originally from Qingdao, China, Qingjian entered Singapore in 1999 as a construction company, mainly building HDB townships, particularly in Punggol and Sengkang.
When Qingjjian first ventured into property development, Li spent a lot of time doing market research and visiting residential projects. That led to his decision to have no more than four units per floor at Qingjian’s maiden HDB Design, Build and Sell Scheme project Natura Loft, which has three 40-storey towers containing 160 units each. To maximise cross-ventilation, he also made sure that all the units were north-south facing.
Given the positive feedback from homeowners at Natura Loft, Qingjian decided to adopt the same north-south orientation and four units per floor plan for its subsequent projects. To date, Qingjian has developed 11 projects, including six ECs, making it one of the most recognised names in the hybrid public-private housing segment.
Showflat of a unit at The Visionaire
Recent EC launches by Qingjian include Bellewaters in Sengkang and Bellewoods in Woodlands, both of which were launched in late 2014. An EC that recently obtained the Temporary Occupation Permit was the 383- unit Waterbay in Punggol, which is fully sold. Last year saw the completion of the 504-unit RiverParc Residence. Including the upcoming The Visionaire, Qingjian will now have seven EC projects under its belt.
“We have at least one project being completed each year and we want to offer new products for homeowners to differentiate ourselves from other developers,” says Li. “We have been in Singapore for eight years and we plan to be here for at least the next 80 years.”
In 2013, Qingjian launched CoSpace at the 512-unit Ecopolitan EC in Punggol. While it is not a new idea, CoSpace gives homeowners some flexibility in terms of space customisation, so they can adapt rooms to suit their lifestyle changes over the years, he adds.
Since then, Qingjian has introduced CoSpace in all its subsequent EC projects. At the upcoming The Visionaire, 65 of the 632 units are three- and four-bedroom CoSpace units with sizes ranging from 1,119 to 1,549 sq ft. The project has a mix of two- to four-bedroom units, with the majority (84%) being typical three- and four-bedroom units of 839 to 1,581 sq ft.
With the roll-out of CoSpace in 2013 and HiLife in 2015, Li is now betting on the next-generation smart homes at The Visionaire, Qingjian’s latest innovation for 2016. E-applications for The Visionaire will start on April 8, with bookings to commence on April 23. According to Qingjian, the project is scheduled for completion in 2018.
Next door is another EC, the 638-unit The Brownstone by joint-venture partners City Developments and TID. Launched last July, about 55% of the units have been sold as at end-February at a median price of $819 psf.
This article appeared in the City & Country of Issue 723 (April 11, 2016) of The Edge Singapore.